In a jab to the GOP, Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins appointed Democrats to committee leadership posts and eliminated another group led by a Republican. The move shows that the Yonkers Democrat has no interest in bi-partisan cooperation and is merely supporting those who backed his chairmanship, Republicans say, though Jenkins maintains […] …

Congressman Charlie Rangel blamed gridlock in Washington on an “extreme, conservative new element” in the Republican party that’s “willing to bring down the United States of America” when we chatted with him at the ABNY breakfast on Friday. He also shared his thoughts on bipartisan seating at the State of the Union, redistricting, his censure for ethics violations last year and his re-election chances.

Both of New York’s Senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, have laid blame for the recent string of impasses in Congress on the House of Representatives. We asked Mr. Rangel if he thought their assessment was fair.

“Your question challenges common sense in terms of it being so transparent as to what is happening in the House. It’s abundantly clear. In order to get the majority, a lot of people … their interest is not in line with the Republican leadership’s position, but in order to maintain their majority they are forced to give in to this extreme, conservative new element that caused them the majority,” said Congressman Rangel.

When Democrats had the majority, Mr. Rangel said he and other more liberal blue staters were forced to move to the center.

“When the Democrats had the majority, we liberals who thought we were the heart of the party had to yield to conservative Democrats, because without them we would not have had the majority,” he said. “So you bet your life, if you find it’s not compatible between the group that made you the leader, then you have–you’re in gridlock. And the House of Representatives has proved over, over and over again that Republican leaderships cannot control the handful of people that gave them the majority.”

Congressman Rangel said he understood why centrist Republicans would cater to the more extreme elements of the party. Hypothetically, he’s not sure he’d do things any differently in their position.

“If I was critical and you were to ask me, ‘What would you do?,’ I’d have a dilemma,” said Mr. Rangel. “Give up my leadership to do the right thing, or yield to these people that that are willing to bring down the United States of America to prove their point.”

For the second year in a row, lawmakers are attempting to address the fractured climate in Washington by having bipartisan seating for the State of the Union address. Congressman Rangel thinks this could be more than just a symbolic gesture.

“It doesn’t hurt, it’s like a husband and wife that have serious, serious problems that are not going to be resolved just by talking with each other,” Congressman Rangel said. “There is no question that there are Democrats and Republicans who are dying to renew their friendships.”

Mr. Rangel threw his arm around our shoulders to illustrate the type of close conversations he shared with one of his former Republican friends–Congressman Peter King.

“I mean Peter King and I would love doing this no matter where we went and that’s all over.”

Congressman King isn’t the only chum Mr. Rangel thinks he lost due to political strife.

“There are a lot of close friendships and, you take a guy like Senator Orrin Hatch, if he was in the House he couldn’t afford to sit next to me,” Congressman Rangel said. “I’m the first guy he looks for when we have the joint sessions, but if indeed they say, ‘You’re supposed to sit next to Charlie,’ his answer would be, ‘Charlie would understand why I would love to sit next to him.’ And that would be it. He has enough of his own right wing problems that he can’t.”

Unprompted, Mr. Rangel hinted that, in his case, his colleagues reluctance to be associated with his censure for multiple ethics violations rather than a simple fear of crossing party lines.

“There’s no question that the way the House of Representatives treated me, which will soon be exposed entirely, we’ve reached a point as to whether anyone Democrat or Republican could afford politically to put themselves in a position like they were defending me as opposed to putting themselves in a position to get re-elected,” said Congressman Rangel.

Last Wednesday, Mr. Rangel visited the City Council to meet “with the speaker’s leadership” and express his concern “with her desires about the new redistricting lines.” He bristled when we asked how he felt the redistricting process is progressing.

“It is not progressing. We don’t know who’s in charge, we don’t know who’s going to make the decision and it’s a rough decision getting 27 into–after losing two seats. We’ve got to expand, to expand you’ve got to push somebody aside,” Congressman Rangel said.

Jon Huntsman made a plea for party unity while bowing out of the presidential race. “I’m sure he will be doing fine in a Romney administration if there is one,” a high-ranking GOP official said of the former Utah governor. The GOP primary will be a lot less interesting without the Huntsman daughters. The DNC …

Rory Lancman (Photo: Facebook)
Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman got some international recognition this weekend when the British newspaper The Guardian published an excerpt from You Can’t Read This Book that references one of his signature efforts. The… …

It turns out a one-liner in Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City may indeed be one of the biggest development proposals of the waning days of his administration. Last Thursday, the mayor declared, “In the area around Grand Central, we’ll work with the… …

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Friday revealed that the state’s revenue picture is worsening, with tax collections through the first three quarters of the fiscal year lower by $230.7 million than original estimates. DiNapoli said the budget picture is still tenuous as the state heads into the next fiscal year April 1 with a $2 billion […] …

Lew Fidler on the steps of City Hall.
Councilman Lew Fidler formally announced today that he would be running for the special election to replace Carl Kruger in the State Senate on the Democratic and Independence Party lines, setting the stage for what… …

Detractors of the the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) may have reason to celebrate, albeit momentarily. According to Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-Rep.), an opponent of the bills, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has assured him that SOPA will not move forward in Congress until “a consensus” has been reached.
Rep. Issa also said that a hearing regarding SOPA’s impact on cybersecurity scheduled for today has been postponed. On Friday, Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-Rep.), chief sponsor of SOPA, said he would take out a portion of the law that would allow the Justice Dept. to seek court orders requiring American ISPs to block subscriber access to foreign websites accused of infringing copyright, reports PC World.
Although Mr. Cantor’s camp has yet to issue a public statement, Rep. Issa, who is pushing for alternate legislation called the OPEN Act claims:
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